Anyone who hasn't seen the movie The Third Man should see it. Not only is it a brilliant Whodunnit starring Orson Welles and can make you love or hate ZITHERPLAY, but it is also a lesson in Ethics. The distribution of fake-Penicillin in post-war Vienna by some 'business men' without scruples (is there any other type?). This really happened. A few people got very rich by selling fake penicillin as the real stuff, while thousands paid the price by suffering nasty deaths from entirely curable diseases. Ancient history though.
Or is it? James McCormick was convicted in April of 2013 for selling fake-bomb detectors to the government of Iraq. He charged them $40,000 for each unit, and it seems each unit cost $20 to produce. AND they did not work, which James McC knew perfectly well. Untold numbers died before the scam was uncovered.
Now for the sad part. And we can't really blame James McCormick for this. The fake detectors are still in use in Iraq. Apparently they are quite good at detecting missing golf balls, but not that good at detecting explosives. 4500 people have died in Iraq since April. James McCormack will be a free man again in less than 10 years.
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